Vallejo police seek clues to Tuesday's killings

Vallejo Police officials don't know yet if Tuesday's back-to-back homicides are related or connected to gang violence, but someone out there does, a department spokesman said Wednesday.

Both of Tuesday's victims were 27-year-old Vallejo residents, Capt. Jim O'Connell said. Early Wednesday night, authorities released the names of the two men, Anthony Young and Frank Gore.

"It is an absolute certainty there are people out there in the community who know who did this, and it is beyond imperative that they contact us," O'Connell said. "We have talented detectives, but without cooperation from the public, we can't do our jobs."

O'Connell said "it goes without saying," that Vallejo Police officials want to solve all the city's homicides, and hope that city residents want that, too -- enough to tell authorities what they know. He also said that rarely are these types of slayings totally random.

"We have no doubt people know who did it, and it's incumbent upon those people to do the right thing and come forward," he said.

Meanwhile, residents gathered for several events Wednesday related to the city's spate of homicides, including an anti-violence gathering in front of the Vallejo Police Department at 4 p.m.Long-time Vallejoans Tina White and Dee Dee Dunson led Wednesday's anti-violence gathering.

When asked what could be done to help reduce the city's violence, the two offered ideas such as city leaders stepping forward and speaking out on violence, and of keeping important resources like community centers and youth activities alive and thriving.

The two firmly disagreed that those with knowledge of recent shootings should report to police, sharing fears that informers' identities would be revealed, and that retaliation would ensue.

If the city's 25th and 26th killings of 2013 have set residents on edge, Lt. Sid de Jesus said department personnel are spread too thin to do much more than they're doing.

"We are unable to increase patrols due to resources being utilized to handle current calls for service and the case load of recent homicides," de Jesus said.

The first fatal shooting on Tuesday was reported at about 3:40 p.m. near Kings Marketplace at 1624 Fairgrounds Drive, where police found Young laying in the parking lot with what proved to be fatal gunshot wounds.

The second gun slaying, reported some six hours later and about four miles south at 777 Tuolumne St., also left a man dead in the street.

The earlier shooting drew what police described as a large and hostile crowd, triggering a call for mutual aid from surrounding police departments, including officers from the American Canyon Police Department, the Solano and Napa County Sheriffs offices and the California Highway Patrol, Vallejo police said.

When police responded to the second scene at around 9:30 p.m., they found Gore down in the building's rear parking lot, suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, police said.

American Canyon police and Solano County Sheriff's deputies were called in for this shooting, too, after numerous individuals were found in and around the building where the shooting occurred who needed to be questioned.

These were the third and fourth homicides in Vallejo in six days, police said.

Anyone with information regarding either of these cases is asked to call the Vallejo Police Department tip line, (800) 488-9383. Information may also be given to law enforcement anonymously by calling the Solano Crime Stoppers tip line at 644-STOP.

The 2013 homicide total include three fatal officer-involved shootings. The total also includes a body found on Derr Street on July 6, which is being investigated as a homicide.

The number, however, does not include Nellie Stanworth, 90, who was allegedly killed by her son, Dennis. The killing was reported in January, but prosecutors said Stanworth had allegedly admitted to killing her weeks prior. There also have been three fatal hit-and-run incidents this year.

Staff writer Jessica A. York contributed to this report. Contact Rachel Raskin-Zrihen at (707) 553-6824 or rzrihen@timesheraldonline.com. Follow her on Twitter @ Rachelvth.